Nacionalidade por graça especial (nacionalización por gracia) — por lei

Grace is effected by the enactment of a specific statute (ley) designating the beneficiary; the constitutional grant is complete upon that law. Because Art 10 inciso final delegates to statute only the procedures for the option and for 'otorgamiento, negativa y cancelacion de las cartas de nacionalizacion' and their registry — i.e., the carta, not grace — there is NO general administrative procedure, petition, or fee for grace in the decoded primary corpus. The ordinary carta apparatus of DFL 5.142 (petition at the Intendencia Regional / Gobernacion Provincial or the Ministry of the Interior per Art 4; police and Servicio de Impuestos Internos certificates; presidential decree countersigned by the Interior Minister per Art 1; correlative numbering in the Rol de Cartas per Art 9; fee under Art 12) does NOT govern grace. Operationally the 'procedure' for grace is the ordinary legislative process: a bill passes both chambers and is promulgated as a law. It is not a migratory-administrative process handled by the Servicio Nacional de Migraciones (SERMIG), whose Ley 21.325 Art 157 Nº8 competence is expressly limited to 'las solicitudes de carta de nacionalizacion para su resolucion por parte del Ministro del Interior y Seguridad Publica.' Any registry recording of grace acts, if made, would fall under the Art 10 inciso final registry of 'todos estos actos.' As of 2026-07-04.

Nationality by special grace (nacionalizacion por gracia) rests on Const. Art 10 Nº4 (current consolidated numbering, texto refundido DS 100/2005): '4º.- Los que obtuvieren especial gracia de nacionalizacion por ley.' It is one of the four enumerated grounds by which 'son chilenos' and the ONLY ground conferred directly by an act of the legislature (por ley) rather than by birth, descent, or an administrative carta. It must be distinguished sharply from the carta de nacionalizacion of Art 10 Nº3 ('Los extranjeros que obtuvieren carta de nacionalizacion en conformidad a la ley'), which is an executive/administrative grant operationalized by DFL 5.142/1960; grace is a legislative honour requiring a specific statute. The constitutional delegation clause of Art 10 inciso final ('La ley reglamentara los procedimientos de opcion por la nacionalidad chilena; de otorgamiento, negativa y cancelacion de las cartas de nacionalizacion, y la formacion de un registro de todos estos actos') regulates the option and the carta and their registry only — it prescribes NO procedure for grace, confirming that grace's mechanics live in each enabling law, not in a general regulatory statute. The ground is textually spare: it names who becomes Chilean (those obtaining special grace by law) but supplies no eligibility criteria, residence period, age, or renunciation condition. As of 2026-07-04 the provision is operative under the 1980 Constitution as reformed; substantively unchanged since D.O. 24.10.1980 and only renumbered by the 2005 reform/refundido (former Nº5 to current Nº4).

Primary constitutional authority: Const. Art 10 Nº4 (texto refundido DS 100/2005), operative since D.O. 24.10.1980, renumbered by Ley 20.050 (D.O. 26.08.2005). The conferring authority is the legislature (Congreso Nacional) acting 'por ley'; the enabling statute is promulgated by the President of the Republic. Related constitutional authorities: Art 10 Nº2 (descent anchor incorporating grace as Nº4), Art 11 Nº4 (revocation by law), Art 12 (Corte Suprema reclamation, jurado y tribunal pleno), Art 13 inciso final (avecindamiento condition), and Art 14 inciso final (carta-only public-office restriction that excludes grace). Amending instrument: Ley 20.050/2005 (CL-PRIMARY-02). Historical authority: Constitucion 1925 Art 5 Nº4 (CL-PRIMARY-14). The Servicio Nacional de Migraciones (SERMIG, Ley 21.325 Art 157 Nº8) is NOT an authority for grace — its competence is limited to carta applications; and no subordinate regulation (DFL 5.142; Reglamento DS 296) governs grace. As of 2026-07-04.